Interior Signage Is Something No Retailer Can Ignore

Want to attract customers and drive sales to your London retail premises? High quality interior signage can do that and so much more. Think of it as an extension of your website, with clear navigation and eye-catching design that help your customers to navigate your bricks and mortar premises and make the most of any offers and promotions.

Narrowcast to target your audience

Narrowcasting is all about putting the right sign in the right place. That means being specific about location or a product, and keeping the message itself simple. With interior signage you can aim to convey the main themes of your sign in 5 seconds or less. If you miss the mark, narrow the focus down to just one key message or use a series of signs to get the full message across.

Hit the headlines

When you’re pinpointing the messages you want to narrowcast, try writing in headlines. In other words, be as punchy and concise as possible and then see whether you can take out any unnecessary language.

Observe the strict hierarchy of interior signs by following the following structure: headline, explanatory text, call to action. An effective sign will have the goal of getting the customer to do something, so make sure you create a killer call to action.

Finding your way

Also known as directional or informational signs, wayfinding signage is designed to help your customer navigate your premises. Make it is easy for them to find what they’re looking for and they’ll appreciate the convenience and return another time.

These types of signs need to be bold, concise and eye-catching, so think about the fonts and colours you need to use for customers to understand the message of the sign at a glance.

Using directional signs has another benefit when you’re laying out your store. You’ll quickly establish what signs need to go where and whether your layout is easy to navigate. It all helps to create a satisfying customer experience.

Persuade with signage

Do you want to draw your customers’ attention to a particular product or promotion? Do you want to influence consumer behaviour or highlight an unloved product?

Effective persuasive signs can create a hidden gem or raise the perceived value of an item. They can increase the awareness of certain brands and drive retail sales, so make them eye-catching and witty.

Be inclusive

Creating a customer experience applies to all customers equally, which means paying attention to the inclusivity of your signs. For example, you may need to use certain high contrast colours or legible fonts and provide Braille or tactile alternatives to certain signs.

Ensure that signs are installed at the correct height for your disabled customers – if you have accessible facilities and you’re not promoting them, then you’re marginalising your customers.

Optimise interior signage

At The Sussex Sign Company, we can help you create a suite of interior retail signs, including decals and digital wallpaper, that can boost brand awareness, give your premises pizazz and delight all your customers, while maximising your return on investment. Contact us via phone or email to get the ball rolling.

Contact The Sussex Sign Company today to see how we can help you.

Halo Illuminated Signage: Don’t Ignore the Benefits!

Almost all businesses have signs nowadays – they’re simply essential to show customers where your store is, and have many functions that allow them to be one of the most powerful marketing tools in the arsenal of any business owner. But with signage so ubiquitous, how do you differentiate your company from the others?

Illuminated signage provides a solution to this end, along with many other benefits. Besides making your company premises stand out in a packed and increasingly competitive bricks-and-mortar retail environment, illuminated signage can serve to revamp your business exterior with a particularly 21st century, super-contemporary look. This is sure to turn heads and maybe even attract customers who had previously dismissed your firm altogether.

The Power of Illuminated Signage

Advances in fabrication and illumination technologies have given business owners access to a huge variety of illumination techniques and options which can be used to create beautiful, show-stopping illuminated signs, tailored perfectly to the needs of your business. Variety extends over the types of materials used in the sign and the types of illumination to make your signs stand out.

Built-up signs are composed of several layers to create a stunning 3D effect, making your sign stand out in the literal as well as the figurative sense of the word. Built-up signs can be manufactured from brushed or polished metals, including stainless steel or aluminium, or plastics such as acrylic. This range of materials ensures that built-up lettering is well within the reach of almost all business owners.

Halo Illumination – What and How?

Using built-up lettering also expands the types of lighting effects that can be applied, due to the fact that locating the lights in one of the many different locations on, or in, the letter will produce a different effect. Illumination techniques generally revolve around LED-backlit letters or a light box. When internal illumination is combined with built-up lettering or logo shapes fabricated from solid metal or acrylic, the faces of the letter remain opaque with the light diffused against the background surface creating the effect of a glowing halo.

What Can Halo Illuminated Signage do for You?

First and foremost, by giving your signs a glowing outline, you make them far more visible! Illuminated signage ensures that your business is clear and stands out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather. This is especially useful in the winter months when the nights start to draw in early and your shop would be totally unnoticeable to impulse customers and those who explicitly wish to visit.

There isn’t really a comparable advertising medium that works around the clock to promote your business. Illuminated signage brings your business and brand to life via the power of light.

Greater Clarity for More Effective Communication

When a passer-by sees your sign, you only have a split-second window in which to communicate your message before their glance moves on to something else. This means that clarity is paramount and, fortunately, illuminating your sign with a halo makes it much easier to read and understand. Using illuminated signage for any time-limited promotions or special offers will guarantee that your message has a far greater impact than it otherwise would.

Consumer Perceptions

All signs have the power of transforming passers-by into potential customers simply by virtue of being seen. However, signage communicates more than just the message written on it – indeed, in some senses, ‘the medium is the message’. The medium of halo illuminated signage, with its eye-catching lighting effects and use of sleek metals such as aluminium, carries a distinctly contemporary and cutting edge feel.

Therefore, with the use of halo illumination, the transformative power of signage is extended further, working to engender the impression in the minds of viewers that your business itself is fresh and modern.

Improve Your Image

Upgrading your signage with a halo illumination effect shows everyone who encounters it that you take your marketing and business image very seriously. This can work wonders for boosting your credibility and reputation, even among people who have never interacted with your business before. By showing that your signage, marketing and image are considered important, it will seem likely that you’ll take other areas of your business, such as customer service and quality of products, just as seriously – if not more so.

Furthermore, a firm that can take the time and capital to invest in a new and visually impressive illuminated shop sign must necessarily be doing well in business. The subconscious implication to the customer is that you must be doing something right, making you the right person for them to choose to do business with.

Boost Your Energy Efficiency

Halo illuminated signs use LED technology to deliver massive efficiency improvements, reducing your impact on the environment and minimising your expenditure at the same time. Previous illumination systems worked either with external light – shining a spotlight at something so it can be seen – or internal light, such as backlit lightboxes containing fluorescent tubes.

Spotlights are highly energy inefficient, emitting large amounts of wasted energy as heat and driving up your bills. Lightboxes using tube lighting often fail to light the surface evenly, spoiling the quality and effect of the sign. Neither of these techniques produce particularly effective halo effects, either.

LEDs, by contrast, last for thousands and thousands of hours, functioning as a ‘plug in and forget’ solution to signage illumination. They also use roughly 5 to 10 percent of the energy used by halogens and fluorescent bulbs, representing a massive saving for the environment and your bottom line over time.

Let’s Work Together

At the Sussex Sign Company, we have the skills and expertise to create a halo illuminated sign to your precise specifications. We also have an in-house design team to help advise on the specifics to ensure that your sign helps your business to reach its maximum potential, call us today on 01273 417057

A Powerful Tool: Differentiate Your Brand and Drive New Clients with LED Light Pockets

All retail premises on high streets face certain pressures these days, with growing numbers of consumers opting for online commerce against the general backdrop of commercial uncertainty over what the future holds. Despite historically high house prices, estate agents feel both of these pressures particularly keenly at the moment, and unless the Brexit affair is settled speedily, there is a chance that this could continue for some time to come.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools to draw consumers and clients back to brick-and-mortar stores. Delivering unparalleled customer service with which internet-based companies can’t hope to compete is one of the most effective ways to do this. In this blog, however, we’ll be looking at the power of signage to attract new custom, in particular the fairly new technology of LED light pockets for estate agent window displays.These display solutions are increasingly popular, but adoption is still far from saturation point – so now is the time to strike. Read on to find out everything you need to know about this innovative and eye-catching display technology, whether it is worth the investment or not, and what it could offer your business.

LED Light Pockets: What are They and How do They Work?

The use by estate agents of clear acrylic pockets suspended from cables is long established, so much so that it would be surprising to see an agent’s window without them. By embedding LEDs into the pockets, an attractive and striking effect is created, visually highlighting your window. Each panel is generally not more than several millimetres thick and they often come in a range of styles, including bevelled and framed edges.

With these designs, the LED light is bounced off the inner edges of the pocket, creating the impression that the frame of the pocket is glowing. Each pocket is attached to imperceptibly thin metal cables, suspended between the ceiling and floor. At a glance, the glowing pockets look as if they’re floating, which is a particularly striking thing for any passerby to see! The power for the LEDs is transmitted by wires tucked away inside the suspension cables, furthering this visual effect.

These pockets can often be made to order in any size as well, giving estate agents the opportunity to use posters and graphics to draw attention to promotions or special deals, as well as simply highlighting the present properties up for sale. The lack of clutter, combined with a highly visible and legible form of display, allows you to convey maximum information with minimal effort on your part or that of the viewer.

What Can These Light Pockets do for Your Estate Agency?

Your business may close at 5pm, but with the aid of glowing light pockets in your windows, your properties will be advertised and clearly visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing people to see what you have on offer any time of day. This is particularly effective during the winter months, when the evening draws in by 4 or 5pm, but people will be present in busy streets until much later.

In this regard, LED illuminated window pockets constitute a powerful tool that utilises the promotional capacity of a space that you already own and have the right to use, as opposed to hiring a billboard or space in the pull-out property supplement of a newspaper. That said, there are many other stores on the high street, and all of them will be trying to do the same thing that you are – maximising their use of space for promotion. Fortunately, LED-illuminated pockets can help to differentiate you further still.

Brand Differentiation

By making your window display glow, your premises are guaranteed to stand out from the white noise of the high street, working to grab attention and hold it. This means that people are likely to remember your store, and thus your brand will be in the front of their mind when they eventually need your services, or if someone else mentions looking to buy or sell a house. In this way, brand differentiation pays its dividends over a long period of time, and therefore this form of signage should be viewed as an investment.

Furthermore, the contemporary and modern style of these light pockets creates the perception that your business is forward-facing, modern and efficient. This also makes people more likely to buy from you, and can even give you an edge over those older brands who can claim expertise by way of having existed for decades.

Keeping Up Appearances

Such an investment in window displays also suggests to consumers a care of appearances. Any business that is able to devote time and money to external appearance is more likely to be doing well in terms of custom, and therefore must be doing something right. This care over appearances also implies that you take care over other areas of work, such as attentiveness to customer service and experience, getting the job done and producing positive results.

Lastly, the beautiful effect created by glowing frames in your window allows your premises to actually enhance the look and feel of the local area, which is something that not many businesses can genuinely claim to do. All of these thoughts are subconscious and occur when viewing your window display, but they influence decisions very strongly.

The technologies behind signage solutions change and develop every year. At The Sussex Sign Company, we have accrued several decades’ experience in the business, and we’d be thrilled to put that expertise and knowledge to work for the aid of your company. To find out about the great things that we can achieve if we work together, get in touch today, Call us on 01273 417057

Halo illuminated letters in high street signage:

The high street has always been a competitive environment with a limited number of potential customers, established brand loyalty and a willingness to pay more at local and ‘authentic’ businesses. According to a report commissioned by the Economist, the high street retail environment has become considerably more cut-throat in recent years.

Uncertain futures?

Retail sales are declining due to changing consumer habits, including a greater tendency to shop online. The outlook might be a little gloomy, with an added hint of uncertainty since Brexit, but there are still billions of pounds of commerce up for grabs. The tightening of consumer retail spending leads to an ever-more competitive environment, as an increasing number of businesses vie for a decreasing amount of consumer money.

Retail firms are working on drawing in customers and getting them to come back again and again with a variety of techniques, including cutting prices, diversifying their offerings and spending vast sums on public relations and marketing campaigns. There is a far easier option, however, that offers huge marketing potential, harnessing the power of brands and won’t cost you an arm and a leg: high street signage.

Retail signage is often overlooked, with many business owners assuming that provided that their trading name is nice and clear above the door, then customers will come in. This may be true enough, but such an approach fails to utilise the true potential offered by signage. In particular, halo illuminated signage can turn your shopfront from ‘just another shop’ that fades into the background, into an attractive, sleek and modern locale that subtly improves its surrounding environment.

What is halo illuminated signage?

There are several different forms of illuminated lettering used in signage, including side, full letter and face illumination, all of which are self-explanatory. Halo illuminated signage is a type of built-up lettering with LEDs positioned internally to create a glowing ‘halo’ effect behind the letter. The light is diffused onto the fitting surface upon which each letter is installed.

This is far more subtle and contemporary in appearance than large ‘lightboxes’ in use in so much high street signage which is, essentially, a box containing LEDs or fluorescent tubes that shine through a translucent sign on the front. Indeed, changes in planning regulations over the past decade have indicated a shift away from large illuminated surfaces towards more subtle and aesthetically pleasing forms of signage lighting.

Halo illumination can be used in built-up lettering fabricated from any material, from stainless steel and aluminium to acrylic and modelboard, depending on the precise effect and impression you seek to create. The illuminated surface behind the letter requires a little more thought. For the perfect halo effect, it’s wise to avoid dark coloured surfaces such as black, purple or dark brown as these colours absorb more light than they reflect. This can cause ‘spotting’, when the LEDs’ light doesn’t diffuse evenly, spoiling the halo effect.

Likewise, glossy surfaces should also be avoided. This is due to their high reflectivity which may even allow the viewer to see the LED modules themselves in the reflection when viewing side-on. For the sleek and beautiful halo effect that’ll make your premises the talk of the high street, matte surfaces with medium or light colours are the best bet.

The use of LEDs instead of tube lighting or powerful spotlights also provides several benefits in itself. LEDs usually last for several thousand hours, with ratings varying between models, but essentially providing a ‘fit and forget’ signage solution. LEDs are also very low producers of carbon, using between 5 to 10 per cent of the energy of halogen or fluorescent lighting.

Why illuminated signage?

As covered above, increased competition is the watchword of the day as a brick-and-mortar retailer. High street signage, if poorly designed or not looked after, quickly fades into the white noise of our image-saturated shopping environments. To really turn people’s heads, something a little different is required. Going all-out with brash, loud signage is likely to turn people off, but halo illumination provides an eye-catching yet subtle and understated solution.

Illuminated signage also has the benefit of making your store visible 24 hours a day, advertising your presence to any and all of the hundreds or thousands of daily passers-by. You aren’t likely to get much footfall at 4am on a weekday, but this feature is very valuable in winter, when the sun is already setting by late afternoon. Depending on your line of business, incorporating warm, welcoming colours into your sign could take advantage of winter by appearing particularly inviting to pedestrians.

Furthermore, humans are creatures of habit and people are far more likely to buy from brands or stores that they know. By having a highly recognisable and memorable sign on display 24 hours a day, and especially after dark, you increase your brand familiarity amongst your target market.

Put simply: imagine you own a bakery. Of those people who have seen your memorable and bright high street signage, when they come to need a custom cake designed or fancy some special bread, your bakery will be the first that pops into their minds. The same applies if they are asked by someone else to recommend a good bakery. Your glowing signage creates a good impression even if they’ve never set foot on your premises.

High street retail signage and the contemporary retail environment can feel like minefields. You want to attract customers, but not put them off by coming on too strong. At The Sussex Sign Company, we have the knowledge and practical experience that only comes from decades of working in the industry. And we’d love to put our finely honed expertise to use for the good of your business. Contact us today to see what we can do for you, on 01273 417057

Supporting South East Dance exhibition

As part of our mission to help support the arts, we are delighted to have been involved with an exhibition held at the Onca Gallery, Brighton.

The Sussex Sign Company designed, in collaboration with South East Dance, the window graphics and the information displays for ‘Hawkers Pick Over Fruit Here’. Working alongside artists Becky Edmunds (Straybird), and Zoe Manders, we are delighted with the completed designs. The Exhibition includes photography and film and ran for one week. The Circus Street Market Hall is due to be demolished this year, and with it disappears ways of working that have sustained several generations of Brighton-based families. straybird artists – Becky Edmunds and Lucy Cash – and photographer Zoe Manders invited members of these families – grandfathers, fathers and sons – who worked at the Market, to attempt to describe what the site looked like, sounded like and felt like at the height of its working life. The resulting exhibition uncovers the patterns and rhythms of this way of life and celebrates the communities that once inhabited the space as we look towards its future use as a space for dance. Traders cam from all over the home counties, including London and Croydon. As part of Brighton’s Cine-City Festival 2015, ONCA will be hosting an installation of still and moving images: Hawkers Pick Over Fruit Here. Commissioned by South East Dance. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Based on an original concept by Lauren Proto and Zoe Manders. Commissioned by South East Dance and supported by National Lottery through Arts Council England . For more information contact us on 01273 417057 or contact us using the contact form. A list of the towns we work in throughout East and West Sussex is listed below. East Grinstead , Crawley, Gatwick, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Steyning, Worthing, Arundel, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Selsey, Chichester, Midhurst, Petworth, Portslade, Brighton, Hove, Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne, Bexhill, Hastings, Hailsham, Lewes, Uckfield, Heathfiled, Crowborough.

Top purchases for 2014

A survey by online magazine, Signlink.co.uk, has revealed the items at the top of wish lists for sign makers in 2014. One of the most surprising results was that none of the respondents was considering buying a computer this year.

At the top of the list was a digital printer: 42% of those surveyed indicated that they were likely to purchase one this year. This desire to move into digital printing coincides with the fact that more sign makers are now expanding their portfolios, to offer a wider range of services. Advances in technology have made it more cost effective for them to carry out work such as vehicle wrapping, window graphics and point of sale.

Second on the wish list was a router, with 33%. This was followed by 16% who were looking to purchase a new car or van to use for delivering materials or as an additional marketing tool.

The survey was conducted online between Christmas 2013 and January 2014. It asked readers of the magazine what items they were hoping to buy for their business over the course of 2014.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we are constantly evaluating our business to ensure we have the right tools to carry out our work to the highest quality.

New environmentally friendly LEDs

LED lights offer huge advantages to the sign industry. They can be attached to signage brackets and projected onto the design, enabling it to be seen at night. One manufacturer has recently launched a new range of LED lights that provides environmental advantages.

The new set of LED trough lights, released by Iron Design, offer significant benefits, both in terms of the quality of the light and their energy consumption. They are designed to be used in place of existing T5 fluorescent lights. They consume much less energy, whilst still providing a high quality and consistent bright light. The bulbs will last for more than 50,000 hours.

The lights are manufactured using a much slimmer profile than previous models. They are available either as 600mm or 850mm long lights and measure only 53x25mm. This means that they have less of a detrimental impact on the sign they are designed to illuminate. The slimmer fitting can be easily hidden and doesn’t take away from the overall sign.

The LED lights can be bought as a pair and come with the cables, transformer and the required fixings.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we can produce a range of LED illuminated signs based on our customer’s requirements.

New concept in LED Lighting

Wandlite have launched a new LED light model, which has the ability to offer 360 degree tube lighting. The product is waterproof, durable and long lasting.

In the past, there has been a tendency for LED manufacturers to focus on the capabilities of the light, rather than the design elements. However, with the new Wandlite, it remains visually attractive as well as practical. The LED tape has been spiral wound along the tube to better direct the light.

This new LED light is extremely energy efficient. It uses 12v or power, but only takes up 1.2 amps of energy per metre. It can be used where there is no direct electrical supply, including outdoor and temporary settings. In these cases, the light can be used with a rechargeable battery, solar panel, car battery or cigarette lighter.

The Wandlite is available in a range of lengths, from 800mm to 2000mm. They can be used to independently or a number of tubes can be connected together to create a longer length. It can also be produced in a range of colours to meet customer needs.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we can offer a range of illuminated signs to suit the requirements of our customers.

Create a greater impact with built-up signage

The creation of 3D signage, where the words and images are raised up, is becoming more popular. This allows sign makers to make a greater impact and produce a clean appearance. The advances in materials and technology mean that they can design something that goes further than an average 2D sign. There are some additional considerations to be taken into account when designing this type of sign. They will need to think about the overall design, the budget, durability, how long the sign will be up for and any installation issues. Location is also crucial to the finished look of the sign: the style of a sign that’s positioned high up won’t be the same as one that is at eye level. Built-up signage can be used in a number of different circumstances, where a customer wants to really make people take notice. The words or graphics can even appear to just float against the wall, without any obvious signs of fixings. Specialist lighting techniques are also making more daring styles achievable. Here at The Sussex Sign Company we use a range of materials and techniques, in order to achieve the desired look for all our customers.

Encouraging signs for shop front scheme

A project to regenerate an area of Glasgow has seen interest from almost 100 retailers.

As part of the Action Barras Calton (ABC) plan to improve the East End area of Glasgow, shop owners were invited to submit applications for funding. The £400,000 council fund has received applications from over 90 local businesses, all of whom are committed to regenerating the immediate area.

The money is part of an overall investment of £3.5 million from the council, which will be increased by outside funding. Successful applicants can use the fund to install new signage and carry out other improvements to the shop front, all of which are intended to generate more customers.

There has been so much local interest and support for the project that the council will hold an open day in December. At the event people will have the opportunity to meet with those involved.

Work on the new store fronts will begin in the New Year, once the money has been allocated. This project is part of a wider scheme to improve the facilities in the local area and encourage more people to visit. Other plans include the creation of an urban green space and the installation of public artwork. The Sussex Sign Company welcomes this initiative as new signage is always a very good way to generate increased footfall and subsequently new business.